Moving to new place. Area is extremely sandy. I mean 2-8 ft deep in places. Mix in parts with red clay.
I’m moving from an extremely fertile river valley. Looking to prosper in a different setting.
Looking to subsurface irritated. On a great aquifer. Watering should not be an issue.
Hot sun, central OK. They grow great fruits peaches, watermelons in these soils. Just need voice of experience anywhere…
Many decades of outdoor growing on river…
Holes and great dirt is the plan.
Any advice is appreciated!
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Sand is great to grow in…if you can keep it watered or the roots get deep enough to access subsurface water. Will likely require quite a bit of irrigation. My soil here is also very very sandy. It also happens to be a big area for fruit tree production. Apples, cherries, berries, etc. Whatever organic material you can add to increase water retention is gonna be a big help. Composted manure, etc.
They grow plenty of dope in Afghanistan and it’s sandier, hotter, and drier than OK.
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Here’s an old farmer’s adage: “Add sand to clay, throw your money away, add clay to sand, money in your hand”.
All soils are mixtures of clay, sand and silt. I added 8" of sharp sand to 4" of my blue colored back yard clay and ended up with a heavy clayey loam. But good enough for carrots and root crops.
You have it the other way, adding clay to your sand should be getting you a nice light sandy loam.
Picture a deck of cards as clay and sand as bb’s.
Cards (clay particles) will just stick together, add and mix them with bb’s and they prop up the cards from sticking together.
Compost and mulch will add to that separation and the compost will help hold water.
Your situation sounds ideal, best of luck!
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i went thru that when we moved…lol Nothing but sand…lol. I only grow a couple outside though, and I actually use a super absorbent polymer. (SAP)I mix it in the sand, and viola…water retention all season long. I am not sure of the commercial name of it…I’ll see if I can find it if You are interested.
Stuff has been around forever, one of those things i am not sure why others dont know about or use.
Or Octopots…how the Hell did I not know about them before?
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Did three outdoor grows in sand, great drainage even if you dig a hole and fill it with hot soil as I did.
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Hi @spaceman tks for your priceless “statement” …
Put it in my personal booklet … B6 pencil >>>>
I’m luck to grow outdoor but also a conteiners slave (12 liters max with handles )
But along Perlite i always mix 10% of sand and clay …clay and sand … sorry kkk
Just adding some of my reads …
In the opening charpters of THIS book
Cannabis Evolution and Ethnobotany Robert C C for the close friends
The overview of cannabis and humans … both … nomads … Along the SAND rivers of the Himalain base … Ancient times … Burning funerals … Masking the smell with “skunk” …
Like the most genuine crying … Stonedage >>>
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Now that is something I have not pursued, the history of cannabis.
Thanks for the book ref.
Good reading for a snowy afternoon.
An acquaintance travelled several times to the foothills of the Himalayans in India as a missionary.
Told me that the folks watered their crops with “glacial milk”. The rivers and streams down the mountain carry colloidal particles of the rocks and stone off the mountainside and the crops grew like crazy!
Said they drink it too and seem to be of the very healthiest people in that crowded land.
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Add a good amount of compost and you’ll be set for a great grow. Good luck and happy growing!
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I appreciate the responses. Getting started late. I will make up o
In numbers.
Good ideas on the polymers. I’m doing holes with soil and buried gallon milk jugs. Only pond water until more development happen$.
Did the sand soil change the looks or tastes? Noticeable in anyway
associated with the growing medium? I’m a low impact grower. Little in the way of ferts. Some commercial 12-12-12. And some liquid bloom in the end. Couple more tricks but not a feeder unless sumptin wrong.
I’ll do a more permanent underground pipe wicking type of diy irrigation system for the sandy grows.
For giggles and shits one corner of this land is marsh. Three spring creeks meet. A marsh area, a delta area and an alluvium area where water seeps from the hills and run off in the creeks. A few areas in back offer up to 8ft deep sandy areas. Getting a soil test for back soils. Making a homemade version of swamp tubes. I’m stoked with goals of 20’ 10lb sativas hazes!
I’m excited and look forward more sand growing stories! 
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Sounds like you might be having a good grow! Post your grow in the diary section I’d love to see some monster Sativas in sand😊. What’s burying the milk jugs for? How does this work?
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Mulch, mulch, mulch, the more the better, thick layers of straw/hay, grassclippings, dandelion, horsetail, thistle, nettle, cleavers, treeleaves… all these are rich in minerals. A foot of mulch and you won’t have to water much at all.
Let all the “other weeds” grow as they please around your herb, it all helps retain moisture as they provide shade over the soil. And they all feed the microbes with carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, the more stuff that is growing at once, the better everything grows.
You can also sow vetch, buckwheat and other covercrops. Clover is a bit slow but good too.
Studying permaculture is very rewarding too and can save you a lot of money, time and effort.
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I’ll post some intro pics in a bit…
You bury the plastic gallon container in the ground with top 2 inches or so exposed.
Fill with water as needed. A good dry period is good for sativas for sure. There tough.
Ferts clog the hole…
You drill how many holes and size you wish water to drain or seep. I use multiple small holes. No rhyme or reason.
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If it’s in a swamp with sand the roots are gonna grow fast and hit water table relatively soon, you may not need to water much towards the end.
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Marsh on back 80. Sand I believe is everywhere.
I’ll try to find short vid or pic and maybe somebody chimes in with interesting information or good story
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I love good Sandy soil with a little compost mixed in. I have a couple spots that are real sandy but are up a bank by a creek, probably 4-5 foot above regular water level and that’s where I grow my biggest plants. Everyone is telling you great advice, I’ll bet your crop will turn out fine
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You dig below the 6 inches of sod, and this is what you get, pure white sand with water tight layers of white clay, that beach isn’t far from where my parents live. The hole paninsula is either like that or rock.
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That’s some interesting soil structure
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Interesting enough it is almost a perfect match to soils fond in areas of Afghanastan
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Dig a decent sized hole, go wide if you can’t go deep. Mix that sand 50/50 with compost and fill the hole back in. Maybe even make a bit of a raised bed if you can. Then mulch. The clay will help hold water and supply lots of minerals, the compost adds organic matter and helps hold some water. Sand is aeration and drainage. Mulch will break down and add to the compost. If it doesn’t get washed away or dry out completely, that spot will have nice soil instead of dirt in a while.
Oh some general dry fertilizer blend will help too. Garden tone, 10-10-10, bio live, what ever you can get that is “natural” to help build the soil. The organic lable often just adds more to the price tag.
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We had to dig a 5’x5’ hole 8’ deep for our septic system. We put 4 inches of water in the bottom and took 2.5 days for it to soak out @Seamonkey84
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